Mail Call

We will be leaving for Camp Blue Haven on Saturday morning at 6 am! YIKES!!! We will be there until July 13th. We will be home that night really late. As the title suggests, we would love to hear our names yelled out when mail call is done. (am I being obvious enough?) So here's our address for the next two weeks as of Saturday:

Montandons( but mostly Emma :)

c/o Camp Blue Haven

HC 81 Box 304

Las Vegas, NM 87701

Mail takes a little while sometimes to get to us so send it early! I'm giving you a 2 day head start, so get out your pencils and paper and start writing!

This is Shawn holding Elle at Blue Haven...taken in 2004 when Elle was 3 months old.

Blue Waffles and a Baby Model

Here's some pictures of Ava that I took yesterday.

What a face!

Newly acquired skill: loves to point and say "Bu"

What a sweetie

Those eyes

Tonight Daddy is gone to a summer youth series with the youth group. I didn't want to make a big elaborate meal since it was just me and Elle eating so I decided to make waffles. As I was getting it all ready, Elle said, "Can you make them blue?" I love to use food coloring so there you go. It looked interesting and thankgoodness didn't taste weird.

Shawn and Emma

So, how long has the world had "Shawn and Emma?" Well as of today, June 25th, the world has been blessed with our relationship for:
10 years or
120 months or
520 weeks or
3,640 days or
87,360 hours or
5,241,600 minutes or
314,496,000 seconds.

The Hunter found it's Prey

The hunter (me) found it's prey (the fake Crocs). When Shawn got home today, I had about 5 places I was going to go to today and hunt down some of those fake crocs. Why do I want them so badly....for me: Blue Haven...we are suppose to wear close-toed shoes at camp, but I get really hot wearing socks, so this is my answer to that problem....for Elle: just great kids shoes that are easy to clean up and they are bright! Anyway, I found my pair for a whopping $6 at the Dollar General and Elle's for $4 each at Family Dollar. That's right....all together I spent $18 for four pairs of shoes!!! Who says men are the hunters of the family?

My girls

Rarely do I get a picture of both of my girls together...and both looking at the camera. Usually one is napping or one doesn't want her picture taken, or one doesn't like mommy behind the camera and not holding her...or....well you get the point. Today I put Ava next to Elle on the couch because I needed to do alittle cleaning in the kitchen. A few minutes later Elle called me in to see something. Ava had slouched down on the couch and Elle had laid next to her and wanted me to see her snuggling with Ava. I got the biggest smile on my face because for once Ava wasn't fussing to be sat back up or have Elle get off of her. They both just seemed to be enjoying the moment. Enjoy the pictures.

Freak out! I almost went 7 days without an update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would just be unscriptual if I let an entire week go by without updating so here I am! I really don't have much to say, but I have taken some sweet pictures lately. Elle is doing fine. We stopped having to do the inhaler on Thursday, just as she was getting use to it! She is all cleared up. Ava, on the other hand, has gotten a cough much like Elle's was and it's not really going away, so I'm going to take her to the dr. tomorrow to have him listen to her breathing and see if he hears any wheezing. I'll keep you updated. It's nothing serious, but I just want to make sure they are both in good health before we leave in 1 1/2 weeks for a two week camp! By the way we are REALLY excited about Camp Blue Haven. This will be our fifth year to go and we have really started looking very much forward to the two weeks of mountain air. We are also excited because we get to spend time with Shawn's brother and sister in law. They are going to be teachers also. Right now we are preparing for next week's VBS here. It will be all week from 9-12 every day and Elle is going to go. I think she will really like it. I will also get to have Ava to myself every morning next week so that will be nice. One other thing....does anyone know where I can get a cheap pair of fake Crocs??? I really like the shoes but can't find them almost anywhere...Target and Walmart carry a limited color of them and I really need to find a few pairs for Elle and me. I've tried Payless for her and they don't ever carry her size in anything. I came across some in Super 1 today which was totally odd, so I think I'll find them in some place I didn't think of that has them...so have any of you been somewhere and seen them??? Okay enough about shoes, here's the pictures.

9 months old

Ava is 9 months old today. I started thinking of birthday ideas...it's never too early. Got any ideas you think are just awesome? Can't do pink, but give me any ideas you have. Enjoy the pictures of my little cutie patooties. Here's their number comparisons: Ava is 16 lb. 3 oz and 28 inches long. At 9 months Elle was 16 lb 4 oz and 27 1/4 inches long. Amazing how close they are in numbers, but look so different, at least to me.

Double Doctor Duty

Both girls had a dr's appointment today. Elle had a 3 year check-up and Ava had a 9 month check-up. Here's Elle's info: She weighs 28 pounds and is 37 3/4 inches tall. She is just a tiny little thing. She is doing wonderfully as far as her milestones. Every day she says something new that makes us laugh. She's really trying to use to words she hears....so be careful! Last week she started coughing after being at Tyler State Park all afternoon and I just figured that she had inhaled something that flared up her allergies. Today when the dr. was listening to her breath, he didn't like what he heard. He said it sounded wheezy and rattly. She has had a croopy cough for days now, but it seemed to be slowly getting better. Anyway, since he didn't like the wheezing sound, he prescribed an antibiotic and also an inhaler. He said he doesn't think it's asthma, but he still thought an inhaler would help open her up and help loosen all the gunk in her lungs. Well, I'm all for doing whatever to keep my kids healthy, but this was ridiculous...not the inhaler and mask that we had to get....but the actual cost! I am just sick about it....for one mask, one inhaler, and one antibiotic, I had to fork over $110 and that was not counting the $45 copay just to see the dr. I seriously felt a little bit nauseated the rest of the time at Walmart. That is a fortune to us and I just can't believe how much it was. Oh well...that's having kids I guess. Anyway, she is doing well, though she really didn't like having to put a mask up to her face. She cried the whole time I was doing it and then as soon as I was done I asked if it was really that bad and she said "No." I guess she just gets scared of the unknown. Next time will be easier. I think I have to use it every 4-6 hours for the next few days till we notice her getting less croopy sounding.
On to Ava: This is much shorter...and cheaper thank goodness! She will be 9 months old on Wednesday so be looking for her monthly picture then. She is 16 lb 3 oz and is 28 inches long. She is also a teeny little thing. Things she can do or say now include waving bye and saying bye-bye, clapping when asked, kissing when asked, pointing to things, can say mama, dada, something that sounds like duck when she sees a duck and has said something that sounds like more but only every once in a while. She has also pulled to her knees and it really getting ready to start moving more. She's tired of sitting in one spot. She is also very upset lately if I even put her on the ground next to me. She wants to be right up in my lap while she plays....not gonna happen! She cries real hard for a minute and then gets over it and finds something to occupy herself with---most of the time :) She didn't have to get any shots today thank goodness and we didn't have to spend any money on her! Tomorrow I think I'm going to try to get her in our little pool for the 1st time. I put the water in today so that it wouldn't be so cold tomorrow. We'll see....
That's all for now. Have a great day and I'll post some pictures Wednesday unless something extraordinarily cute happens before then.....which is highly likely! :)

More Pictures

Here's Elle refusing a wonderful breakfast in bed.

Our Week in Review

Today we got back from spending a week in Tyler. Shawn went to a summer camp with the youth so I headed to Tyler for some grandparent and family time. We had a wonderful week! We are all exhausted, but in a good way. Each grandparent had a special something that they did with Elle and Ava this week. I wished they could have had a week with each one. Here's a recap of the week:

Monday-got to Papaw and Carolyn's house-went to Barnes and Noble and read books, then went to Dairy Queen for a yummy treat.

Tuesday-went to Nana and Poppy's house-played in the swimming pool-went to Tyler State Park for a weeny roast and marshmallow roast-Laura, Brent and Hayden came too.

Wednesday-back to Nana's house-more swimming with Hiney-playing at the house-shopping at the mall-worship-then to Braum's for another yummy treat.
Thursday-went to Gramme's house-took Elle to story time at Tyler Public Library-hilarious because we got to watch a Sponge Bob episode that went along with the theme of boats-went to Brookshire's Museum-had a picnic lunch-went to Bergfeld Park-dinner at Gramme's and playtime/bathtime

Friday-Elle got her first breakfast in bed from Papaw and Carolyn, which ended up not being in bed "I don't want to stay in bed! " said Elle. (she takes after her mommy)-anyway, she still felt special, it was just at the dinner table instead of in bed-played in the yard with Papaw and Carolyn while mommy packed. Came home-ate lunch-both girls took a nap-went to Walmart for a major food run-made dinner-watched TV-catch some ZZZ's

Daddy should be home tomorrow sometime. Boy am I ready! As much as I love my girls, 24/7 is no fun!!! Enjoy the pictures from the week. I took 250 pictures in 96 hours!

Elle wasn't hiding from the camera-this was how she looked much of the time-she had free reign of the Cheeto bag.

Wedding, Wheels, and Widow

Yesterday, we packed the kids up and headed to Plano. My cousin (my moms' brothers' daughter) got married. They had the wedding outside at a pretty place. Although it was H-O-T it was still nice. My favorite thing besides the free food of course, was the color of the bridesmaids dresses. They were beautiful...a shade of granny smith apple green! I loved them! Anyway, here are a few pictures from our time there.

Great picture of Ava...Elle midsneeze

The little model

I thought this picture was so cool. I thought it was a fake dragonfly before I took the pic.

That sweet 2 teeth smile

After we went to the wedding we headed to the Kia place to look at their Sedonas and we realized that it's just not going to happen on our salary right now. We were looking at used ones and it's just too expensive so I'm just going to have to suck it up and deal with the Element...which I will never recommend to anyone with young children! Anyway that was a bit of a bummer because we were hoping to drive home a different car yesterday. As of this afternoon I'm a youth group widow. Shawn left with the group for a one week camp in Oklahoma. He will be back Saturday. Since I'm by myself, I thought I'd take the girls to Tyler for the week to get some grandparent love. Elle is VERY excited and I've charged the camera batteries and am in the midst of major packing! I won't be updating again for about a week. Pray for Shawn's safe arrival, good time and safe trip home...ditto for me.